Many of you know the story of Cinderella, an orphan who was taken in by a foster family, who then proceeded to abuse her and make her work as a scullery maid. Despite being snubbed from the royal ball, Cinderella got a makeover from her fairy godmother, and was practically unrecognisable as she danced with the prince. There was also the matter of her abruptly leaving the ball at midnight, leaving behind only a single glass slipper that, by magic, could only fit her foot.

But what if she had to leave the ball for a different reason?

After several fruitless efforts, the prince was ready to give up on his quest to find the girl who fit the glass slipper. He was currently at the abode of Lady Perrault, a haughty woman with two equally haughty daughters, and after both daughters attempted to mutilate their feet to fit the slipper, he was becoming jaded, until his eye turned to a young scullery maid, doing the housework.

"Who is this young woman, slaving away over a kitchen?" the Prince asked Lady Perrault.
"Oh, her? Just a stunted kitchen wench left behind by her late father. She's clearly not the bride for you." Lady Perrault replied.
"My decree was perfectly clear", said the Prince. "All young women in the land must try on the slipper."
"Oh, very well", Lady Perrault. "Cinderella! Come here!"

Cinderella obeyed, knowing full well that everyone was going to be in for a surprise. Naturally, the slipper was a perfect fit. But before the Prince could decree that Cinderella was his bride-to-be, he was interrupted by a voice from the cellar.

"Excuse me!"

The cellar door opened, and out stepped another Cinderella, wearing the exact same disheveled clothes as the one who tried on the glass slipper.

"You said all young women in the land, correct?"

Suddenly, two more Cinderellas came out of the cellar, folding their arms.

"Us too!" they said in unison.

Everybody was stunned by Cinderella's identical quadruplets. All except Cinderella herself, who was smirking. She was holding off on this surprise until an opportune time, and now that she saw a way out of living in the care of an abusive stepfamily, she figured that the time was right.

"I think it's only fair the others have a turn," said the first Cinderella. She took the slipper off and handed it to the second Cinderella. As each Cinderella tried on the glass slipper, the result was the same - the slipper fit each Cinderella.

"If you must know, this is why I left at midnight," the first Cinderella said to the prince. "I felt funny in a way that few people ever do, but I didn't want to cause a scene, so I had to make a getaway. By the time I arrived home, there were four of me."

"Alright," said Lady Perrault. "You may take one, but the other three are to remain here in my servitude."

One of the other Cinderellas promptly slapped Lady Perrault in the face. Multiplying seemed to give her a sense of self-confidence, since she now had three duplicates to back her up, with or without the royal family. After years of abuse, she felt a sense of catharsis, as did the other Cinderellas.

"Do your own damn housework. Me and the other Cinderellas have had enough of your abuse."

The Prince, having mulled over his options, finally made his decree.

"Since the slipper has been found to fit all four of the young maiden known as Cinderella, I decree that all four shall be my brides."

All four Cinderellas were delighted by the news.

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"That was a great story, mommy"
Darla was drifting off to sleep as she listened to her mother's reading of the fairytale. Of course, Darla's mother, Angela, had told a version where Cinderella went through spontaneous human mitosis (also known as postnatal mitosis), and was testing it out prior to working on another draft. Darla's positive feedback had given Angela plenty of confidence. She knew that more people would be supportive of people with mitosis if they listened to fairytale variants at a young age.
"I'm glad you liked it. Would you like to hear another story tomorrow night?" asked Angela.
"That'd be great!" Darla said.
Angela turned off the light and Darla nodded off.